Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RAINBOW, by CARROLL RYAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RAINBOW, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I chased a rainbow in my youth
Last Line: Now I am growing old.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ryan, William Thomas Carroll
Subject(s): Childhood Memories; Old Age; Weariness; Fatigue


I chased a rainbow in my youth
To seek a pot of gold;
I found it not, but find a truth,
Now I am growing old.
The rainbow arched the tearful skies,
The sunlight shining through,
And where it touched the earth a prize
Must surely be, I knew.

High hills, low vales I travelled o'er,
O'er ocean, too, I sped;
The golden treasure still before,
And still the rainbow fled.
Meantime the years were gliding by,
And I was growing old;
Yet still the rainbow filled my eye,
My heart the pot of gold.

At last the sun began to set
Beyond the outer rim
Where sea and sky commingling met,
Then all around grew dim.
My rainbow faded, and I cried,
For I was weak and old;—
O, I had lost my Iris guide,
And missed my pot of gold.

Then darkness hemmed me all about,
The sea and sky were black,
My farther way was one of doubt—
If forward, or if back.
Then to my listening soul a thought
Came with a hope divine—
"Beyond the stars the treasure sought,
The beauty shall be thine."

Now, though I wander all alone,
No Iris in my sky,
The glory that for me has shone
In spirit cannot die.
I chased a rainbow in my youth
To seek a pot of gold,
I found it not, but find a truth,
Now I am growing old.





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